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Interesting quote heard at the KIN conference:
Public sector improvements due to knowledge work are one third of those in the private sector.
Attributed to ‘Friedman’ – not sure if this would be Ken or Thomas (or someone else altogether?) Need to find out.
The Dissident
Interesting – or may be worrying is more appropriate – article in today’s Sunday Times about record tax levels. Mr Brown’s budget next week may ead us into the highest tax regime on record. Tax revenues will total £490 billion this year, up from £271 billion when Brown took office – equivalent to a rise of £9000 for every houshold in Britain. The worst of it is, we all know the money is being poorly spent – particularly on public services. No wonder then that regions have sufficeient funds to keep re-inevting wheels – e.g. the Regional Improvement Partnership, funded by the ODPM at a cost of several million pounds to set up a series of new web sites with all the supporting infrasatructre they need. Clearly this is going to deliver real and tangible benefits to us poor citizens!
The Dissident
Well actually…it’s the same paper, but still strying to get it through the convoluted Governance process. Currently awaiting feedback from the directore of finances….can we afford to implement a strategy that will only deliver improved collaboration across local government? Watch this space!
The Dissident
Not much to say today really. Have spent the day putting the finishing touches to the KM Strategy paper for my (public sector) client. Not quite sure that local government is quite ready for collaboration across the sector for identifying best practice. They seem to be wedded to the ’silo approach’ to sharing ideas and expertise – i.e. lets go and build ourselves yet another web site for ‘Improvment Initiatives in the South West’. I didn’t think my ideas for cross-region collaboration were that radical….but clearly they are!
The Dissident
Another day spent writing a report to enable the KM Strategy project to proceed. When I look back over the past 8 months, I think I’ve spent about 80% of that time writing reports and proposals. There has been some limited movement forward on the initiatives I’ve been pushing (primarily Information Management and Knowledge Management), but the effort has far exceeded the rewards. I’ll plod on for a while with this next paper – due to go to Management Team on 22nd March. If no movement after that, clearly I’ll need to go to ‘Plan B’. Right….what is Plan B? Better write another paper describing Plan B….
The Dissident
Feeling somewhat frustrated. Having spent the best part of around 4 days pulling together a compelling case for a new KM strategy for the client, with full budgetary breakdown for the duration of the 3-year programme, I was (a) not invited to the Management Team when it was discussed on the agenda and (b) later advised that they couldn’t agree the strategy without me being there! I’ve since been asked to revise the proposal and make it look like its not going to cost anything (bit of smoke and mirrors here I think).
I haven’t given up yet. Will spend another 2 days glued to my PC and see if I can hide the costs of the programme as I’m required to do. If I look back over the past 7 months, I seem to have spent my whole time writing papers for various ‘important’ groups. This seems to be the way of things in the public sector – all paper and no decisions. I can see where the money is going – maybe should have bought shares in a paper-pulping company or something!
The Dissident.
The following is a briefing for a new approach to ‘KM’ in that I’m attempting to get Local Government to buy into. These concepts are not new to the provate sector, but seem to be fairly radical ideas for the public sector. Will report later on whether this strategy takes hold.
Knowledge Management – Connections not Collections
What is KM?
KM
is about enabling people to improve how they work. It involves capturing,
creating, distilling, sharing and using know-how in order to help individuals,
teams and organisations improve their performance.
We need to embark on a new approach to knowledge
management that will realise a step-change in local
government improvement over the next few years. The key emphasis is on connecting
people with similar needs and objectives and facilitating a far more
collaborative approach to developing efficiency and performance solutions. The
approach requires the development of social networking techniques rather than
compiling collections of best practice case studies and success stories. These
collaborative networks are commonly referred to as ‘communities of practice’
(CoP).
Definition of CoP: ‘…a group of people geographically
separated who share learning, knowledge and advice about a common interest or
practice.’
The role of networks and communities
The r ole of CoP and networks in local
government will be key going forward. Perhaps the most consistent of KM success
stories in large privat sector organisations has been the evolution of CoP as the primary
mechanism for learning, knowledge sharing, and helping between people who
perform the same role but in different departments (or in this case local
authorities). This project will be looking to support the development and
maintenance of healthy CoPs and networks across the local government landscape,
as a key tool in self-improvement.
What might the future look like?
In 2009, sector knowledge will be owned and maintained
through properly resourced communities and networks. These communities will be
run by trained facilitators, which will connect community members (local
authority employees) to the knowledge they require, in order to solve immediate
organisational challenges. Local Government will play a key role in supporting and
nurturing these communities, as well as acting as a key first point of contact
to search for knowledge and expertise. It will act as a knowledge broker for
all local authority employees.
The Dissident
My first blog. Thought I’d give a try – get ‘wired up’ as it were. Looking forward to some interesting debates and converstaions. Currently working as a consultant in the public sectoe (local gov) – yes one of the thousands – so will have much to say about the rampant inefficiencies that seem to be accepted by all around me (remember I’m a tax payer as well, so I do care about value for money).
Not expecting any response; I’ll wait until I’ve composed my first ‘controversial’ comments.
The Dissident